Pumping apparatus.



PATENTBD JULY 26, 1904.

A. G. E. RATEAU; PUMPING APPARATUS.

APPLIUATIOH FILED MAY 26, 1903.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

no MODEL.

No. 765,994. PATENTED JULY 26, 1904. A. G. E. RATEAU.

PUMPING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 26, 1903.

NO MODEL. 3 SHEETS SHEET 2.

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PATENTED JULY 26, 1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

N0 MODEL UNITED STATES Patented July 26, 1904.

PATENT OEETcE.

PUMPING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Le e s a en No- 765,994, dated July 26,1904.

Original application filed Decemberl5, 1902, Serial No. 135 ,191.Divided and this application filed May 26, 1903. $erial No. 158,791. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AUGUSTE OAuILLE ED- MOND RATEAU, a citizen of theRepublic of France, residing at Paris, France, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Pumping Apparatus, of which the following isa specification.

The growing employment of centrifugal pumps for'pumping to a greatheight, either in installations for working mines or in industrialinstallations for any purpose, has led me to invent an arrangement ofpumping apparatus which allows the centrifugal pump to be directlydriven by a steam-turbine. In an application for a patent filed by meunder date of December 15, A.D. 1902, Serial No. 135,191, of whichapplication the present application is a division, I have described andclaimed such a pumping apparatus. As explained in said application, themain difiiculty met with in this type of apparatus is to make thecentrifugal pump deliver in good quantities. It is necessary for thispurpose when the height exceeds certain limits to be able to feed thecentrifugal pump. I therefore place two pumps upon the same shaft-themain one and an accessory feed-pump-the two pumps being directly drivenby the steam-turbine.

As in many cases it is necessary. to provide means for condensing thesteam in the turbine, the system is rendered complete by the addition ofan ejecto-condenser which is fed with the liquid to be raised. In mypresent application a form of obturator interposed between thesteam-inlet and-the turbine will be described in conjunction with theother parts of the apparatus, and this obturator together with meansregulated by the discharge from the main pump for controlling theobturator form the subject-matter of the present application.

The nature and object of my invention will be more fully understood fromthe following description, taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, forming part hereof, in which- Figures 1 and 1 are partiallongitudinal sectional views of a pumping apparatus embodying mainfeatures of my invention. Figs. 2

and 2 are plan views. view, on a larger scale, showing the obturator andone arrangement for governing the inlet of steam to the turbine; andFig. 4c is a view to a larger scale, showing the arrangement forgoverning by means of the pressure of fluid in the delivery-pipe.

Referring to the drawings, 1 is the turbine, provided with one or moremoving wheels.

2 is the inlet for the steam which passes into the obturator, which willbe mentioned later.

3 is the exhaust-outlet, the steam passing into the ejecto-condenser.

41 is the turbine-shaft extending beyond the casing.

5 is the bearing for the shaft.

6 is the shaft beyond the bearing upon which the pumps are mounted.

7 is the stufling-box of the pump-inlet.

8 is the propeller of the main pump.

9 isthe easing into which the water passes on its Way to the port of thepropeller 8.

10 is the port of the inlet of the propeller 8.

11 is the delivery-chamber receiving water at the outlet from thepropeller 8.

12 is the flange of the outlet-pipe of the delivery-chamber.

13 13 represent the propeller of the feedpump, provided with two sets ofports.

14 and 15 are the ports of the propeller 13 13.

16 is the casing containing the water passing to the ports 14 and 15 ofthe feed-pump.

17 is the delivery-chamber which receives the water at the outlet fromthe propeller 13 13.

18 is the flange of the pipe leading from the delivery-chamber 17 19 isthepipe conveying the water passing from the feed-pump to the main pump.

20 is the inlet-pipe for the water into the interior of the casing 9 ofthe main pump.

21 is the inlet suction-orifice of the feedpump which draws water intothe casing 16.

22 is the propeller of the pump intended to supply the ejecto-condenser.

23 is the port of the pump feeding the ejectocondenser and whichcontains its water-supply from the casing 16.

2a is the delivery-chamber receiving water at the outlet from thepropeller 22.

Fig. 3 is a sectional is the flange of the pipe from thedelivery-chamber 24.

26 is the delivery-pipe of the pump feeding the ejecto-condenser andleading to the suction-pipe of the ejecto-condenser.

27 is the inlet-pipe in to the ejccto-condenser.

28 is the ejecto-condenser.

29 is the outlet-orifice for the water of condensation from theejecto-condenser.

30 is the pipe leading the water at the outlet from the ejecto-condenserinto the casing 16 of the feed-pump.

31 is the flange of the inlet-pipe for the water from theejecto-eondenser into the easing 16.

32- is the centrifugal fan keyed to the end of the shaft of thesteam-turbine.

33 is the delivery-tube for the air coming from the fan 32 and passinginto the apparatus governing the speed.

34 is a flexible membrane governing the obturator-rod placed at thesteam-inlet.

35 is a counter-spring for regulating the flexible membrane 34.

36 is the obturator provided with passages placed at the steam-inlet.

37 is a valve governed by a hand-wheel which can interrupt communicationwith the steaminlet tube 2.

38 is the casing containing the steam-obtuiator.

39 is the outlet-orifice for the steam after passing through theobturator.

40 is the pipe leading the steam into the turbine after its passagethrough the obturater.

41 is a frame common both to the turbine and the pumps.

42 is the orifice putting the flexible membrane into communication withthe outer air.

43, Fig. 4, is a pipe connecting together the upper portion of thecasing inclosing the flexible membrane 34 and the main deliverypipe 12of the pump. v

44 is the end of the pipe 43 passing into the pump-delivery andterminating in an open tube.

1n the operation of the apparatus the turbine is driven by means ofsteam passing through the inlet-pipe 2. The pipe 2 is directly closed bymeans of a needle-valve 37, actuated by a hand-wheel. As soon as thesaid valve is open steam passes through an obturator provided withpassages. The method of governing said obturator will be explainedlater. It then passes to the steamturbine, expands in the differentwheels composing it, (the turbine may, however, if desired, be composedof a single moving wheel,) and at its outlet from the turbine passesthrough the connecting-pipe 3, which leads to the ejecto-condenser. Theturbine-shaft after having traversed the bearing 5 passes directly tothe pumps. The main pump, the

propeller 8 of which sucks water into the casing 9 and forces it intothe delivery-chamber 11. The water which fills the casing 9 is derivedfrom the two-passage feed-pump 13 13. It is the said second pump whichtakes water directly through the suction-orifice 21 from the reservoircontaining the water. The two-passage pump 13 13 is capable of suckingat a distance of several meters. It forces the liquid under a differinghead, dependent upon the dimensions of the pump 8. It is almost entirelyupon the latter pump that the height to which the water is pumpeddepends. The water from the two-passage pump 13 13 is collected by thedelivery-chamber 17 and passes out through the flange 18 and through thepipe 19 into the suction-pipe 20 of the main pump. At its passage out ofthe main pump thewater passes into the delivery-column through the pipe12. If desired, the outlet to the condenser may adjoin thesteam-turbine. For this object the turbine is provided with anejecto-condenser 28, which is fed under pressure by a small centrifugalpump 22, placed at the end of the shaft. The said centrifugal pump takeswater from the portion of the suction-chamber 16 which feeds thepassages 15 of the feedpump. The water which passes out from the smallcentrifugal pump through the delivery-chamber 24 and the pipe providedwith the flange 25 and passes through the pipe 26 into theejecto-condenser. The water causes the steam passing out from theturbine to be condensed, and the whole of the steam and the water ofcondensation returns through the pipe 30 and the pipe provided with theflange 31 into that portion of the sucking-chamber 16 which feeds thepump-port 14 of the feed-pump. It will be seen that in this arrangementa fraction of the suction-water serves for the condensation. The wateris derived from the main circuit of the liquid, passing from thesuction-orifice 21 to the last delivery-pipe, provided with the flange12. The advantage of this arrangement consists in allowing thecondensation of the steam of the turbine to greatly increase its usefuleffect by means of a small supplementary expenditure of mechanical work.

Mounting the three pumps upon the same shaft, which is directly drivenby a steamturbine, allows a compact and eflicient assemblage to beformed. The centrifugal pumps may be made to profit by the great speedswhich steam-turbines allow of, and thus consequently obtain greatelevations which have not hitherto been possible to obtain with thisclass of apparatus.

The speed of the turbine may be regulated in two different ways. Asdescribed in my original application, Serial No. 135,191, it may begoverned by acting directly upon the obturator placed in the path of theinlet-steam.

In its passage out through the valve 37 the steam traverses the casing38, which surrounds vthe obturator 36, the latter carrying a verticalrod adjoining a flexible membrane 34, balanced by a counterregulating-spring 35. A centrifugal fan 32 is keyed upon the shaft ofthe turbine, and in operation air is drawn from the atmosphere by thisfan and forced through the pipe 33 to the upper portion of the membrane34. WVhen the speed increases, the membrane causes the obturator todescend by drawing with it the obturator-rod and tends to strangle thesteam-inlet orifice. This method of governing is thus very sensitive,for the pressure of air drawn by the fan increases as the square of thespeed. By regulating the counter-spring 35 the speed of the system maybe varied within fairly large limits.

In the present invention the means for gov erning the inlet-valve to theturbine is controlled by the delivery of fluid from the pump. This meansshould be used where a constant volume of fluid is to be delivered. Forthis purpose the delivery-pipe, which is provided with the flange 12, asshown in Fig. 4, is caused to communicate through the pipe 43 with theupper portion of the membrane 34. The pipe L3 terminates inside thedeliverycolumn in an open tube 44:. The pressure of fluid entering thePitot tube thus formed varies with the speed, and consequently with thedelivery of the column, and thus imparts a pressure upon the flexiblemembrane, which will vary with the delivery of the pump. The governingof the obturator will therefore in this case take place proportionallyto the delivery and no longer proportionally to the speed.

Having thus described the nature and object of my invention, what Iclaim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a pumping apparatus of the character described, a steam-turbineand its shaft, and a main centrifugal pump located on and operated bythe turbine-shaft, in combination with an obturator interposed in thesteam-inlet of the turbine, and means controlled by the discharge fromthe main pump for governing said obturator.

2. In a pumping apparatus of the character described, a steam-turbineand its shaft, a main centrifugal pump located on and driven by saidshaft, a delivery-pipe into which said pump discharges, an obturatorinterposed in the steam-inlet, a flexible membrane in operativeconnection with said obturator, one face of said membrane being incommunication with the external atmosphere, and a Pitot tube extendingfrom above the other face of said membrane into the delivery-pipe fromthe main pump and arranged to convey varying pressures in saiddelivery-pipe to the membrane, whereby the governing of the obturator iscontrolled by the discharge from the main pump.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my signature in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

AUGUSTE GAMILLE EDMOND RATEAU.

Witnesses:

PAUL DE MESTRAL, J. ALLIsoN BOWEN.

